To ensure that schools are safe places for students to learn and teachers to teach without fear, educational leaders must understand the power of a positive climate in creating feelings of safety. This climate does not happen by accident. Leaders must be proactive in implementing a comprehensive approach to safety that encompasses the full spectrum of approaches and interventions to respond to any level of risk or danger through prevention (school climate), intervention (risk assessment), and responses (training and practice).
Click here for publications on climate and safety.
The Comprehensive School Safety Plan Checklist, developed as part of the Arizona Department of Education Statewide School Safety Task Force outlines the components of a school safety plan. The Checklist provides leaders with a tool to assess their current safety plan and procedures, as well as a way of identifying areas that need to be strengthened. Click here for a link to the Task Force Report. Click here for a copy of the Checklist.